The compounds of the present invention are potent inhibitors of intestinal motility in both the small and large bowel, being calcium antagonists with well defined selectivity for the gastrointestinal tract.
Irritable bowel syndrome is a motility disorder characterised by altered bowel habit (i.e. constipation and/or diarrhoea), distension and abdominal pain. The calcium antagonists of the present invention reduce the motility of the gut thus having an antispasmodic effect on the bowel without affecting blood pressure or other cardiac parameters. The compounds of the invention are also useful in the treatment of other conditions where spasm or hypermotility of smooth muscle tissue is involved. Such conditions involve the smooth muscle of the gastro-intestinal tract, uterus, ureter and biliary tract and include diseases such as oesophageal dysmotility, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, achalasia, functional bowel disease, pseudo-obstructive disease, non-cardiac chest pain, diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, dysmenorrhea, pre-term labour, incontinence, uteric colic and biliary spasm. They are also of use in the radiological examination of the gut.